The Weight of Dreams || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 7: All About to Change

Sam's P.O.V

That night we flew back home to get everything ready for the tour. We were basically given a day's notice to get everything packed and ready to go. The sun was just starting to come up as we pulled into our driveway. Completely exhausted, we pulled ourselves into the house and made our way to our bedrooms.

"Hey!" Mom called out from the kitchen. "So did you get it?"
"Yep, and we leave in a few hours." Josh yelled out. She peeked out from behind the wall.
"In a few hours?" She asked. I felt bad. I could tell she was waiting up for us. She was probably just as tired as we were. I pulled out my suitcase from under my bed and started piling in whatever shirts and jeans I could find from around my room. I always wore the same things, it didn't matter what I packed.

I liked to enjoy as much of my time home as I could.

I was the first one to wheel my bag out into the living room and plopped down on the couch, propping my feet up. Mom came out and sat down across from me.

"How are you doing?" She asked with tired eyes. I smiled.
"I'm okay." I sighed.
"How was it meeting her? How was the show?" I smiled, feeling my cheeks burn.
"It was wild. I can't believe we're gonna be playing shows that big." I said, shaking my head.
"Was she nice?" She smirked. I peeked over at her.
"Yes." I giggled. "She was nice." She smiled back at me.
"And you were worried." I scrunched up my face.
"I wasn't worried." I laughed. She rolled her eyes, now coming over to sit next to me.

"Just take care of yourself during your time out there, okay? I know you can get a little-"
"I will, Mom. I promise." I said, looking back up at her. She sighed, giving me a tired smile. She always worried. I couldn't say I blamed her. I had gotten a little out of hand on previous tours. But I was learning my limits.

Jake was the next one to roll out of his room with his suitcase. Mom turned to him.
"How was it?" She asked. Jake quickly looked at me, smirking. He was already blushing.
"Jake was a mess." I laughed. He rolled his eyes, making his way over to the couch.
"I was not a mess." He sighed, running his hands through his hair. Mom smiled at him.
"What happened, honey?" She asked, but based on her face I could tell she already knew.

"He choked." I said. Jake shot me a look.
"I did not choke, I just.. she.." He sighed.
"He choked." I said again, laughing.

"Sam said she was nice." Mom said, turning to Jake, running her hand through his hair.
"She was really nice, she just.. I don't know."
"Jake has crush on her." I mumbled. "Just like the rest of the world." He stared back at me wide-eyed. I couldn't help but laugh.
"But she clearly likes Sam."  He snapped, his cheeks getting redder.
"She does not like me." I sighed, feeling my face start to get hot. "I just wasn't a blubbering mess around her. She's probably so sick of people getting flustered around her." 
"I can't help that I get nervous. Why weren't you nervous?" Jake asked. I shrugged.
"She just wants to be treated like everyone else. She's got a lot going on."

Mom turned to me, giving me a small smile and kissing me on top of my head. 

"But she's got a boyfriend..." I said, my voice trailing off.
"Oh yeah, what's-his-name." She said. "I see photos of him all the time online. He looks like a tool."
"Her assistant wants us to 'get rid of him,' whatever that means." I laughed. Mom looked back over at me, confused. 

"Get rid of him?" She laughed. "So her own team doesn't even like him." I shrugged, knowing it was true. It was nice of Tony to think any of us could have anything to do with Juliette wanting to leave Don, but I didn't get my hopes up. Everyone knew that someone like her would never be with anyone like us. We were just two different breeds. It's just the way the world worked.

"They definitely don't like him." Josh said, rolling his suitcase out of his room. Mom turned to him as he came over and sat down next to Jake.
"What about you? Are you excited?" Josh nodded.
"Yeah, it's gonna be great. If these two can keep their cool." He laughed, playfully shoving Jake. Jake rolled his eyes, pushing Josh away.
"I'll be fine." He sighed. "There's nothing to worry about anyway. I know she's not looking at me." He looked back over at me.

"She wanted Sam after the photographers basically attacked her." Jake said, tuning to Mom, doing his best to get the attention off of him. It worked.
"They attacked her??" She said, staring back at me wide-eyed.
"She says it happens all the time." I said quietly. "Doesn't make it right but.. after she calmed down she seemed fine."

"Not to mention anywhere they went she was always holding Sam's hand." Josh said, smirking at me. I felt my cheeks burn, avoiding looking back over at Mom. But I could see her smiling out of the corner of my eye.
"Oh, so am I gonna be reading about you online now too?" She laughed. My body got hot.
"No, Mom." I laughed, a smile escaping my lips. "Though, after tonight I have no idea what they're gonna make of all that."

"Just.. don't get wrapped up in anything." She said. "This is your dream. I don't want you guys ruining it over things that don't matter."
"Well, I wouldn't say it doesn't matter." Josh chimed in. "Do you know how much this could make our career if Sam and her got together?" I shook my head. This whole thing was ridiculous.

"We're not using her." I said sternly. Josh's eyes got wide.
"No one said anything about using her." He said simply. "You'd obviously be happy to be there." I peeked over at Jake, who no one noticed was clearly bothered by this entire conversation. I could tell how he felt about her from the moment he saw her, and I knew us talking about me was killing him.

"You should've heard the way she was talking about Jake." I said. He perked up, now looking back over at me. I saw him trying to hide his smile.
"Yeah, sure." He sighed. "That's why she told me she didn't want to be around me because she was scared of what everyone would think. Because of Don." 
"And why would she even care what happened if she didn't feel some type of way?" I asked. He got quiet.
"Trust me, she was thinking about you." I said quietly, my face dropping.

"She sounds like she's going through a lot." Mom finally said. "You guys don't need to be getting involved in all that. Just go out there and do what you do. I see no reason why she wouldn't love any one of you, but.. please don't get so hung up on her that you forget what you're supposed to be doing." I nodded.

"Okay, Mom." I sighed.

It wasn't long until a van showed up in our driveway ready to bring us to the airport again.

"Let me know when you guys are heading back here." Mom said, kissing me goodbye. She wrapped me in a tight hug. I let her be the first to let go.
"Of course." I said. "We'll miss you."

I followed the guys out to the van, tossing the suitcases into the back.
"You know life is never gonna be the same after this, right?" Josh said, turning to us.

He was right. After a tour like this, I'd be surprised if we'd ever be able to live the way we were used to. It was nice being able to come home to a sense of anonymity, but that was all about to change. 

I thought back to Juliette running onto the bus and hiding out in the back room, how worked up she got over just a few seconds around the photographers. I couldn't imagine living like that, never having a single second of peace or privacy, not every single day of my life. There were still so many things I wanted to do that this kind of life would never allow me.

But I doubt that would happen to us.